Southland Conference officials to visit UNO

The UNO Privateers are one step closer in their march toward returning the athletic program to NCAA Division I and a conference affiliation. The university received word from the Southland Conference on Thursday that it will be one of three institutions whose campus will be visited by conference officials this summer to further examine its membership possibilities.

The announcement came one day after university officials made a formal pitch in front of the conference's board of directors at its spring meetings in Galveston, Texas.

"It was the best news we could have hoped for," UNO President Peter Fos said. "I don't think the presentation could have gone better."

UNO president Peter Fos: 'Best news we could have hoped for.'

Southland Conference Commissioner Tom Burnett said the conference could add as many as three members. However, before extending a formal invitation to join, a visitation team of athletic directors, presidents and administrators from current member institutions will visit Abilene Christian and the University of the Incarnate Word, as well.

"The board of directors has spent a considerable amount of time since last summer reviewing all possible membership options available to the conference," Burnett said. "It's been a deliberate, thoughtful exercise that has allowed the board to consider what's best for the long-term viability of the association, not just a quick fix.

"Our board of directors came out of the presentation certainly impressed enough to want to find out what's happening in the city and in the athletic program there at UNO. We just want to learn a little more before we make a final decision about membership."

Like UNO, the Southland Conference has been in transition. It is adding Oral Roberts as a member for the 2012-13 academic year and Houston Baptist in 2013-14. The conference is offsetting the losses of Texas State, Texas-Arlington and Texas-San Antonio to other conferences. If accepted, UNO would begin conference play in 2013-14, according to Burnett.

"Our four Louisiana members expressed an immediate interest in UNO when they made the system switch (from the LSU system to the University of Louisiana system) last year," Burnett said. "I think that helped bring UNO to the forefront of our conversations."

Burnett, who spent 11 years with the Sun Belt Conference in New Orleans, said he is familiar with UNO and its hardships since Hurricane Katrina.

Sharp budget cuts and years of depressed enrollment after the storm led to the school departing the Sun Belt Conference on July 1, 2010, as it explored a proposed move to Division III, then later to Division II.

"There is a lot of admiration for the perseverance in Louisiana and at UNO," Burnett said. "The actions that Dr. Fos has taken in the last few months to really make a commitment to Division I really honor the competitive history of the university, whether it was in the Sun Belt or the American South before that, and really keep it as a viable major urban institution."

Fos was accompanied at UNO's presentation by incoming athletic director Derek Morel, UNO consultant and former Southern Mississippi athletic director Richard Giannini and men's basketball coach Mark Slessinger. The group covered a broad range of topics during the 90-minute presentation that included a letter of support from the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation, Fos said.

"We talked about the university's history, academic and athletic," Fos said. "We also talked about the city itself and its relationship with UNO, as well as budgets, facilities and future plans."

Fos said he emerged confident about the school's prospects and added that he was thoroughly impressed by Morel's overall performance, especially his poise after accepting the job only a week ago.